Jimmy Kimmel Breaks Down In Tears On Live TV After Announcing Tragic News

Jimmy Kimmel broke down Tuesday night as he paid tribute to his longtime friend and “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” bandleader, Cleto Escobedo III, in what he called the “hardest” monologue of his career.

The late-night host choked back tears while remembering Escobedo, a “great friend, father, son, musician and man,” who died earlier that morning at 59.

“We’ve been on the air for almost 23 years and I’ve had to do some hard monologues along the way, but this one’s the hardest because late last night, early this morning, we lost someone very special who was much too young,” the 57-year-old host said.

Kimmel recalled moving from Brooklyn to Las Vegas in 1977, where fate put Escobedo just a few houses away in Spring Valley. “He was a year older than me. His name was Cleto, but we called him Junior,” he said. The two met when Kimmel was out riding his bike — and they quickly became inseparable.

“We had sleepovers all the time,” Kimmel said, noting that at one point, he stayed at Escobedo’s home “33 nights in a row.”

Escobedo’s talent was evident early on. “He was a phenomenal sax player from a very young age,” Kimmel said. “He was a child prodigy who would get standing ovations in junior high school, if you could believe that.”

💔 Jimmy Kimmel broke down in tears as he honored his late friend and “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” band leader, Cleto Escobedo III. https://t.co/lNiOWNMafy

🎥: ABC pic.twitter.com/z7nS7ZRcJ6

— TMZ (@TMZ) November 12, 2025

The future bandleader inherited his musical chops from his father, Cleto Escobedo II, who also played in “Cleto and the Cletones.” The elder Escobedo had set aside his own career years earlier to focus on family.

“So when Cleto Jr. became a professional musician, Cleto Senior was thrilled,” Kimmel said. “He got to live vicariously through his son, who started playing in bars, and clubs, and lounges around Las Vegas.”

The younger Escobedo’s career took off when he landed gigs with Paula Abdul and later signed a record deal. But Kimmel said the album “didn’t succeed” because his friend, a “serious musician,” wasn’t made for pop fame. He went back to performing with big names like Marc Anthony and Philip Bailey.

When Kimmel landed his own talk show in 2002, he didn’t hesitate to call his childhood best friend to lead the house band — and wanted Cleto Sr. on board, too.

“When you do a show like this, you need a few things,” Kimmel said. “You need a desk, an announcer, a Guillermo, and you need a band. Of course, I wanted Cleto to lead my band. We grew up watching Dave (Letterman) and Paul (Shaffer) and the idea that anyone other than him would lead the band was terrifying. It had to be him.”

The Escobedos and their crew nailed their audition for ABC executives at a restaurant gig, earning the approval of exec Lloyd Braun. And just like that, “Cleto and the Cletones” became part of late-night TV history.

Kimmel closed by saying they’d been “working together every day for almost 23 years.”

Download the FREE Trending Politics App to get the latest news FIRST >>